NDA Early Years

Our three-tiered Early Childhood Development program for boys and girls starts with Pre-Kindergarten at 2 years 9 months and moves through two levels of Kindergarten until age 6. The hands-on, developmental program delivers a values-based education incorporating technology, environmental responsibility, cultural appreciation, specials including world languages, art, and music and provides access to our new mini makerspace exploration center.

NDA Lower School

Our co-educational Lower School program for grades 1-5 offers families a mission-driven, values-based education providing a nurturing environment of challenging academics, favorable student-to-teacher ratios, specialty classes that include art, music and world languages, and use of a newly upgraded science lab and brand new STEAM makerspace.

NDA Middle School

The Academy’s co-educational Middle School program for grades 6-8 provides challenging course work in language arts, science, math, and world languages and scheduling to meet individual needs based on learning readiness. The REACH program provides advanced work in math and English for those who qualify. The newly upgraded science lab and brand new STEAM Makerspace were specially designed to meet the needs of middle school students as they prepare for a future in the global economy.

NDA Upper School

The Academy of Notre Dame is the region's only all-girls high school with a rich history of empowering and educating young women since 1854. Our rigorous and supportive academic environment in small class settings provide real-life applications where young women are valued as individuals, challenged to achieve, encouraged to speak their minds, and empowered to lead. The outstanding STEAM- and humanities-focused academics have led our graduates to 100% college acceptance and more than $25 million in renewable merit scholarships since 2015.

Admissions

Thank you for exploring the possibilities that exist for you or your child at The Academy of Notre Dame. We invite you to click through these links to gather the information you are seeking about the Academy or to contact us at 978.649.7611, EXT. 327 or admissions@ndatyngsboro.org.

The Movement from STEM to STEAM

Posted April 3, 2017

By Randall Adams, President of The Academy of Notre Dame

The search for the right balance in curriculum is a constant endeavor in education. In the 21st century we have seen a constant increase in schools shaping their curriculum around the four disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Over the years, the focus on these disciplines and the practice of teaching them in an interdisciplinary and applied approach has become known by its acronym, STEM. Most people now know STEM as a cohesive learning model based on real-world applications.

There has been a great deal of discussion and debate regarding the pros and cons of STEM and the possible negative effects of focusing primarily on the sciences and pushing the arts to the background. This has led to the introduction of STEAM; STEM + A for Art. The arts are a powerful learning tool and can serve as an on-ramp to STEM for students who may not naturally or intuitively have an interest in the sciences. By engaging students’ strengths using art activities, educators are able to increase student motivation and the probability of STEM success. Art also provides opportunities for communication and expression, and brings innovation into the learning equation.

What does STEAM education look like in the classroom?

The Makerspace for Education website provides a spot-on rationale for why innovative learning is important in our schools: “In schools we often have a traditional model of a teacher providing knowledge and a student replicating that knowledge in the form of a project afterthe knowledge transfer has taken place. Despite this project perhaps being viewed as "hands on learning" and some type of creation made by the student, it is not constructionism just because a student "constructed" something. There was no problem to be solved, only information to be reproduced.” The STEAM movement shifts the focus to design and innovation, and away from simple regurgitation of facts.

The Maker Movement

From preschool to third grade, student creativity has been encouraged with the use of materials such as Play-Doh and Legos. As students advanced through their school years, however, their exposure to activities that would promote creativity and design slowly evaporated. With the maker movement finding its way into our schools, we have a chance to promote those activities again using design thinking as a way to teach and develop complex skills for students of all ages. Design thinking is the crucial element that must occur before, during, and after “making” happens. In order for this to occur, it must be intentional and planned for in grade level curriculum mapping and lessons.

The Academy STEAMs Ahead

At the Academy of Notre Dame plans are afoot to grow our STEM program with a gradual transition to STEAM. Through our STEAM Initiative, we seek to provide the skills, tools and inspiration to elementary and middle school students for exploring and creating engineering projects and art. The focus will be on providing the guidance and resources necessary for self-directed learning, enabling students of all backgrounds and abilities to reach their personal best. We will do this through further development of our after school Enrichment program, as well as increased incorporation of STEAM curriculum and projects into our daily classroom lessons. To support this shift, this summer we will be renovating and updating our middle school science lab, as well as building a new design/maker space on the third floor for students to use during and after school. It is by design that we are currently in the process of engaging in a school-wide process of mapping our curriculum. This will be instrumental of the successful growth of our programs.